Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Here is a short article with some good tips to prevent flinching.

“This [flinching] happens when, as soon as we press on the trigger to discharge the shot, our subconscious mind, anticipating the recoil to come, starts our hand dipping downward to counteract it. Our subconscious knows that the recoil impulse arrives pursuant to the press of the finger. The result is that the shot goes low. If the whole hand clenches convulsively at the same time, the shot will often go to the side, as well, usually left for a right-hander.”

http://www.gundigest.com/flinch-3-tips-to-overcome-it

Ball-and-dummy drill is the best cure.

FiremanBob wrote:Ball-and-dummy drill is the best cure.

It's my favorite tool for showing and especially convincing someone they have a flinch. And with shooters still working on getting the basic fundamentals down, it's a good method.

It's not a great tool to use with good shooters who shoot at speed. Even the best of action pistol shooters will demonstrate a muzzle dip with a dummy round. The difference with them is that the muzzle dip occurs after (not during) the dry fire and it's a natural part of managing recoil. But, this is hard to distinguish with just the ball and dummy drill. Good shooters can develop a flinch too and when they do, their hit pattern on the target while shooting at speed will show it.

what is it?

JLSCustoms wrote:what is it?

I assume you mean what type of hit pattern or grouping indicates a flinch. For a right handed shooter the shots will be low and usually a little left. The shot group will be elongated towards 7 o'clock. For a left handed shooter the group will will be elongated towards 5 o'clock. Sometimes a shooter can have a very consistent flinch and the shot pattern will be pretty tight and not elongated, but it will still be at 7 or 5 o'clock unless the shooter has adjusted their sights to compensate for their flinch.